Chapter 10

At the same instant, both Vicki and C. J. rushed forward and grabbed the intruder from behind. The figure tried to yell out, but the girls prevented that by clapping a hand over that person's mouth. Then they brought the figure into the light.

Vicki and C. J. both released their hold when they saw who it was. Callie Shaw immediately took a karate pose, even though it was evident that she had never taken lessons. Vicki laughed and stepped up.

"You," Callie stuttered, "Why did you attack me? Couldn't you tell who it was?"

"No," C. J. replied, "It was pretty dark and we couldn't see anything too clearly. What are you doing here?" She looked at Callie quizzically.

"Saving you," Callie said proudly, "What else would I be doing? After I saw those men take you away, I sneaked inside and saw them take you down here. Pretty smart, huh?"

Vicki ignored the girl as she and C. J. continued the task of untying Frank and Joe, while Callie ended her remarks. The boys stood up and Frank immediately went to Callie again. Vicki stood next to Joe.

"Is she always like this," Vicki whispered to him. Joe nodded, "I figured she was. Does she ever try to let you save yourselves?"

"Nope," Joe replied, "She thinks that because Frank's her boyfriend, she deserves to be clued in. The truth is, I would rather have her out of the way."

"I wonder why," Vicki said sarcastically, "She sure acts like she's in charge around here."

Meanwhile, Frank was talking to his girlfriend, "I'm glad you came," he was telling her, "I don't know what we would have done otherwise. Of course, we could have handled this ourselves."

Vicki heard the first remark but managed to control her anger. What did he mean by saying he didn't know what we would have done? We were practically out of here before she showed up. Callie was only getting in the way. At least he didn't give her all the credit. All she did was open the door.

"I know," Callie said, "Someone had to save you guys. I was the only one who hadn't been captured so I was the only choice."

Luckily, no one was close enough to Vicki to see her reaction. Vicki might have been a detective, but she knew when something didn't feel right to her. Right now, that thing was Callie Shaw. C. J. walked up to Vicki.

"You too," C. J. asked Vicki, who nodded, "I know what you mean. She gets on my nerves."

"She's worse than Becky," Vicki whispered back, "Now that is as bad as it can get."

"You got that right," C. J. agreed, "but that doesn't mean we have to be mean to her. She is Frank's girlfriend after all."

"I guess you're right," Vicki said, "but you know how I am." C. J. nodded and smiled.

"Guys," C. J. suddenly said, "We need to get out of here and quick. I don't want to be here when those men come back, do you?" She received a chorus of no's, "Then I suggest we leave."

In seconds, the teens had exited the room and were walking quietly down the hallway. They quickly made it to the door and left the building. Everything was unusually quiet.

"Where is everyone," Vicki asked, looking around.

"There is absolutely no one here," Joe replied, "What's going on? Why did everybody leave?"

"I don't know," Frank answered, "but I don't have a good feeling about it."

"Yeah," C. J. said, "No one even came after us when we escaped." The four teens looked around again. The parking lot was empty and the road was deserted.

"Let's get out of here," Callie suggested, sounding slightly scared. Vicki pretended not to notice.

"I agree," C. J. said, "I got a bad feeling about this place."

"Wait a minute," Vicki protested, "If these guys are gone then we have a chance to search the place. We might be able to find out who they are. I'm going back."

"Me too," Joe agreed, "I want to find out who's behind all this. Who else is coming?" No one else volunteered, "Come on then Vicki." The two walked back and opened the door.

"Let's check this way first," Vicki suggested, pointing down the opposite hallway, "Then we can head back the other way. Okay?"

Joe nodded in response as they walked in the direction she had indicated. A few of the doors were left open, and they checked these rooms first. Finding nothing in them, the two managed to get into a few locked ones.

The last locked room they had entered looked more like a lab than anything else. A desk was near one of the walls, papers scattered on top. Vicki walked over to it first. Most of the sheets were nothing, but one did catch Vicki's eye. It was lying in a manila folder, almost unseen in the huge stack.

She pulled it out and saw a picture of a man there. The sheet told everything about him. His name was Jim Condo and he was a scientist as well as a doctor. He was somewhere around his early thirties with brown hair and brown eyes. He had disappeared weeks earlier, his apartment discovered destroyed with no sign of him.

"Joe," Vicki called out, "Look at this. I think I found something. I believe I've heard of this guy before. He might tie into the case." Joe walked over and examined the picture, finally agreeing.

"We should go," Joe said afterwards, "There's nothing else that I can see over here. Pick up those other papers too. Maybe we can go over them again." Vicki nodded and picked them up, putting them safely into the backpack she usually carried.

Then they turned towards the door to leave. Vicki was just closing it behind her when a loud explosion was heard. Dust rained down from the ceiling and the walls shook. Holding onto the door for support, she looked around, but all she could see was smoke!